What I love about traveling is that you can randomly land in these small cute towns in the middle of the mountains and just be speechless. That’s exactly what happened to me in Lake Como.
After spending a few days in Milan, we decided that we needed a break from the crazy city life. We woke up early one morning and took a train to Como, about 45 minutes out from Milano Cardona Train Station. As we arrived to the area, we got off at the wrong stop (one stop before the actual Como Nord Lago stop) which left us in the middle of the city with bags on our shoulders. We started walking towards city center (at this point with the gps on) and landed in the middle of a really fun market (or fair depending where you’re from), that sold anything and everything. It had food, clothes and all kinds of fun items for good bargain prices. We tried to go again the next day but from what we saw they open around 10-11am and closed at 1pm every weekday.
We kept walking and decided to look for a hotel to stay, jumped on Booking.com and booked a room at Hotel Marco’s right by the Lake.
Where to Stay
Hotel Marco‘s is a beautiful hotel a few blocks away from the actual city center but close enough to everything you really need. The rooms are clean and pretty, the breakfast is good and the prices are actually pretty great. We booked a two twin beds room for 80 euros a night, with breakfast included. If you wanted to upgrade to a room with a view, it cost you an extra 10 euros (which we didn’t opt for as we were barely at the hotel).
Where to Eat
There are many restaurants in the Como area and all surrounding the lake. I must say that you have to be careful since many of them are tourist traps. We were lucky enough to find two really good ones in our short time here.
Riva Cafe
This place was so good, we ended coming here twice! The prices are reasonable, they have a lunch menu that you can order their specials from and the waiters all make an effort to help you in English if need be.
The first time it was cold so we sat inside, upstairs which is a really nice area. I had some of the best gnocchis I’ve ever had (specially for 10 euros).
The second time we had to try the delicious oval shaped pizzas that kept passing us by the first time. They were all around 10-12 euros and were definitely thin, crispy and incredible.
Ristorante Pizzeria Funicolare
For dinner we ended up at the hotel restaurant, as we didn’t know if we should walk around Como at night. Turns out we saw a lot of people running and exercising later in the evening. However, the hotel restaurant did not disappoint.
Apparently, it is one of the few places that has the pizza oven running continuously throughout the day (in case you get random pizza cravings). The prices are again reasonable (maybe a little higher than Riva Cafe) but in this case you’re seating by the water of the lake (with heaters for us since it was a chilly night). We had the wine which cost us 12 euros for a liter and the pasta dishes which were 10-12 euros each; finishing up with the crema catalana which was definitely a show for 5 euros. Everything was delicious and the service was excellent.
What to Do
So I know I’ve spoken a lot about this small town.. but really, what is there to do? Well, apart from relaxing (and I really mean relaxing as everything opens late, closes for nap time and opens for a little in the evening), there’s also a ferry tour you can take around the other towns surrounding Lake Como.
The tour covers the bottom section of the map you can see below (the big blue dot at the bottom is Como). The ferry will stop at Tavernola, Cernobbio, Moltrasio, Torno and head back to Como. It runs every 30 minutes and costs 9 euros. There’s also an option of a ferry that goes from Como directly to Bellagio for 15 euros and takes an hour to get there. This ferry runs at specified times throughout the day from 9 am to 8pm. You can buy these tickets at the main offices by the main doc (dock 1) during the office hours of 8 am- 6pm (closed for lunch 12-1pm).
We got off at every single stop visiting the small towns. We went in winter (March) so most homes were closed and there was barely any people at these towns, but it was still nice to see. We did the whole ferry tour, visiting the towns and drinking a coffee at one of them in about 4 hours.
There are also a lot of beauitful stores with cashmere scarves… so I suggest you take your wallet and do some shopping while you’re in the area as well!
I’ll leave you with this beautiful image of the ferry leaving Como, and with the thought that even though the Como area is the go-to spot for summer, it should not be missed in winter either.
Traveling Around the World with Jacqueline 